The Beasts In Porcelain Masks
by Roses Of Yuushi
Summary: Sometimes integration is the only way to ensure survival. As the last of the Arrancar's order face extinction, a simple choice is lain before them. Either become one with the enemies you've learned to hate over a lifetime, or turn to dust. How much distance exists between Vizords & Arrancar... And can Ichigo fight off the temptation to find out?


**Story:** The Beasts In Porcelain Masks

**Prelude:** The Power Of Words

**Summary:** The war is over, the tyranny of Aizen has fallen, and the last of the arrancar will have to carry out their rehabilitation if they are to ever regain their freedom... Whoever said chains were the only way to restrain a beast?

Ichigo X Harribel & Rangiku

Grimmjow X Tatsuki

Starrk X YOU'LL FIND THE FUCK OUT IF YOU READ LONG ENOUGH

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach... clearly -_- This is for anyone too stupid to realize I wouldn't be posting a damned thing here if I owned anything.

**Prelude: Judgment Rendered**

Soul reapers... his life was now in the hands of his mortal enemy. Vermin he would gleefully skewer in a second if he could. The electric eyes of Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez scanned the cloth barriers that hid the judges of the central 46 with enmity.

The fucking cowards didn't even have the balls to show their faces, so he'd at least know who to gut as soon as he got the chance. The soft murmerings of their dissenting voices was a constant hum around him. A usless act given just how sharp his hearing was.

Snorting in disgust, he angrily flicked his gaze from the decript fools deciding his fate to the captain standing at his side... almost immediately anger flared even more intensely in his mind. The pink kimono the man wore wasn't befitting of any warrior, but he could clearly sense the huge resivoir of spiritual energy resting behind his lazy facade. _"So this is the one that almost offed Starrk eh?" _

Grimmjow couldn't help but find it hard to believe that the strongest of his order had very nearly been slain by such a foolish looking man; but he wasn't stupid enough to ever underestimate a soul reaper again.

He shifted slightly on the balls of his feet and tried to stretch his arms discretely; testing the strength of the spirit energy absorbing cuffs they had wisely locked his wrists in. _"There's no way I could break these without some outside assistance" _

Grimmjow was indeed, very, _very _annoyed right now.

At the very top of the list of the seemingly permanently agitated Arrancar, was the calm indifference his fellow former Espada seemed to display. Starrk was as usual acting like he didnt' have a care in the world, Harribel was being her unreadable self, and their pathetic little fraccion were all bitching and talking tough. Threatening the Shinigami captains that surrounded them and the yelling at the dozens of covered faces in the building.

_"They could at least have the sense to know that we can't actually do anything right now... even if we were to somehow break out of these Stupid shackles we'd all be dead before we could even THINK the word garganta"_

Grimmjow's ranting was ceased immediately as a silence overcame the court that had been deciding how to judicate their fate. (Who got the rhymes huh?)

A single seemingly middle aged woman strode forth, her crisp white robes nearly glowing in the collective light of the burning candles that surrounded them. She smiled beningly at the captains standing guard before turning her attention upon those she was prepared to sentence. A single hand drifted from beneath her robes clasping a scroll as it made its way past her sizeable bust to within viewing distance of her molten red eyes.

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez, Tier Harribel, Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerback, Apache, Sun-sun & Mila-rose. I am Magister Akane and I will be telling you your fate. You seven beings known as Arrancar are guilty of following former captain Sosuke Aizen in a plan to overthrow the Soul King. In your quest to do so you have attacked and grievously injured multiple members of the Gotei 13, violated the long standing peace treaty passed between our ancestors and the Vasto Lorde's of Hueco Mundo, injured dozens of innocent humans, caused millions of dollars of property damage and killed an old ladies cat with a volleyball."

Grimmjow could just feel the deadpan expressions Starrk and all the fraccion were leveling at him. _"I'm a goddamn panther, it's not my fault the stupid cat didn't understand the concept of rank. Had the nerve to scratch me..."_

"While the severity of your crimes and the catastrophic results of your plan had it succeded cannot be understated, your collective combat prowess canont be ignored. During a time where Soul Society is greatly weakened by the the defection and death of three of its captains, and the severe injuries bestowed upon the Captain Commander and Captin Sui-feng, we cannot pass up the opportunity to... shore up our assets as it were. It is the decision of this court to lend the seven of you the opportunity to be parroled into the Gotei 13 wherein you will serve the soul society in exchange for your lives. Upon the completion of this period you may be instated into the ranks of the Gotei 13 depending on your own skills & success at integrating into our sacred army. Do you accept?

A mouse in a room full of owls could not have possibly been more quiet than the chambers of the central 46 after that proposal.

Shock faded, shoulders began to shake, fangs exposed themselves from their normal resting palce and muscles flexed as rage began to peak inside the man who heralded destruction. However; before the volatile cat could loose his rage upon the court at their audacious attempt to corral his kind and control the mighty "King" of beasts himself, he was beaten to the punch.

Starrk swiftly stepped past the suicidal move his fellow former espada was about to make and sank to a single knee; bowing his head in the process.

"Speaking on behalf of the remainig Espada, I Coyote Starrk humbly accept your offer Magister Akane."

Grimmjow's jaw immediately found itself intimatetly acquainted with the floor.

"Wait, are you serious Starrk? You're just going to bow like that? Hell no, we do not acce-"

All the training Grimmjow had undergone in a lifetime could not have possibly prepared him for the speed at which Apache's foot made contact with his mouth.

"Then it is decided, Captains Kuchiki, Kyoraku & Hitsugaya, please escort them alongside Captain Kurotsuchi to the lab at the Squad 12 barracks. They will be fitted with the... necessary accoutrements before you bring them to the Captain Commander."

And just like that, three uneasy Arrancar and one unconscience jungle cat were ushered out of the gloomy building and avoided certain death at the hands of their mortal enemies.

Only to serve by their side instead.

Prelude End

Yeah... I'm aware this is a REALLY overdone plot but hey? Who knows, maybe I have a trick or thirty up my sleve ^_^

As they say, this is but the beginning.

P.S: I have no beta, no spell check & didn't really have enough time to proofread this either, kind of all spilled out 10 minutes. Soo... I apologize in advance for any errors you discover while perusing the contents of my craft.


End file.
